On May 4^th, 2016, we received another EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) approval for a Structural Engineer in the Field of Structural Engineering (Approval Notice).

General Field: Structural Engineering

Position at the Time of Case Filing: Structural Engineer

Country of Origin: India

Service Center: Texas Service Center (TSC)

State of Residence at the Time of Filing: Texas

Approval Notice Date: May 4^th, 2016

Processing Time: 57 Days

Case Summary:

Less than 2 months after we filed an EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) petition on behalf of a structural engineer from India, Texas Service Center approved his case. We are especially pleased that they approved his petition in record time—they usually spend between 4-9 months adjudicating I-140 petitions. Undoubtedly, our careful presentation of our client’s solid credentials lent a hand in him obtaining the national interest waiver.

Client’s Credentials:

Our client’s Ph.D. in Civil Engineering is one of many indications that he is well-equipped with the knowledge to carry out impactful work in the field of structural engineering. His investigations on concrete material testing and other important efforts in the interrelated fields of offshore and structural engineering have resulted in various benefits, both for the field and the U.S. as a whole. As is apparent from our client’s findings, he is certainly a force to be reckoned with. His work has led to the publication of 3 journal articles, 3 conference articles, 1 technical report, and 1 book chapter. These publications had gathered 27 citations when we filed the EB-2 NIW case, denoting the value of his research results to structural engineers around the world.

Supporting Evidence:

Like all legal cases, we had to gather as much supporting evidence as we could to bolster our client’s EB-2 NIW petition. Despite our client’s impressive credentials, we needed external support if we wanted to obtain petition approval. We urged our client to reach out to six experts in the field, all of whom were eager to help. He then asked them to sign recommendation letters that briefly discussed his research projects and their contribution to the United States construction and civil engineering sector, infrastructure, and economy. The letters that he obtained were incorporated into his EB-2 NIW petition packet and presented to the USCIS. Here is what one of these letters stated: “In all of these studies, [Client] has shown remarkable technical prowess and solution-mindedness, his inimitable talents making him a luminary in the United States’ structural engineering research and industries . . . Since structural engineering plays a substantial role in the design of structures for mechanical, aerospace, infrastructural, and civil engineering fields, [Client’s] work is extremely beneficial for the whole of American society.”

Waiting on the priority date:

We congratulate our client for obtaining an EB-2 NIW petition approval. Although he is now significantly closer to a green card, he has to wait until his priority date is current before he can file an I-485 application (the last step in the green card process). In a nutshell, only a certain number of immigrant visas are allocated a year and their distribution is based on certain factors such as visa category type and the petitioner’s country of birth. When the demand for immigrant visas is higher than the supply, a ‘queue’ forms. The priority date is used to regulate one’s place in the ‘queue’. Only when one’s priority date is current can one file an I-485 to get a green card. Because our client holds an approved EB-2 NIW petition and was born in India, it could take several years for his priority date to be current. As of right now, he could either wait for this to happen, or improve his credentials and file another I-140 under a different visa category that doesn’t place as much emphasis on priority dates (such as EB-1A or EB-1B). For more information on priority dates, please refer to our visa bulletin: http://www.wegreened.com/visabulletin/